SAC: Definition of Life
by Tenshi de Shino
Summary: The cyber age has been in affect for several years now, making it possible for man to live longer, become stronger and think faster. With any new age of revolution comes the dark side. Nuclear Terrorism, Rape, Murder and Money. Just what sector 9 ordere
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: Ghost in the Shell and all affiliated copyrights do not belong to me. This is purely fandom. Thanks and Enjoi. Please check out Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society whenever possible._

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'_In today's news, the e-child rapist strikes again, hacking into the brain of a 6 year old girl and having e-sexual intercourse with her, causing severe pain to the child before deleting certain memories from her cyber brain. Authorities are still not clear as to how the perpetrator targets his victims and how he gains access to their cyber brains. Authorities have compiled this picture of the perpetrator but no identity has been found. He is wanted for 56 counts of child rape through Asia and the American empire. Authorities have asked if any-_'

She turned off the television sickened by the image. Another victim. This time a 6 year old girl in Asia, which seems to have been his favorite place to find young girls. She knew that they victims would never be the same again through their experience, if they survived. Only about 25 percent of his victims survived, but not without repercussions. Slowly inhaling a breath from her cigarette, she began reading through the posted articles that were still being printed in old world newspapers.

"You're one sick bastard." she whispered, posting the latest article on her clip board. She thought of the victims' families and how they were distraught from one lone hacker with a sick fetish. Biting into the butt of the cigarette, her pocket computer beeped. Touching the button to release the holo screen she began reading the information on the screen. "Well, well, well. They decided to go through with the contract after all." Sighing heavily, she left her posting board and went to her desk, compiling information on her latest assignment.

"Yakumara Mizuno. Age 28, wanted by the Yakuza and Japaneses Public Security Division for 26 counts of international drug trafficking, illegal sales of cyber components including illegal augmented limbs, 5 counts of first degree murder which include 2 officers and 3 Yakuza members, 9 counts of grand theft auto, 3 counts of assault, 13 counts of illegal distribution of heavy fire arms, 6 counts of rape. Man you're a real work of art." Cross referencing his last known where abouts, she sighed reading the locations which were scattered throughout greater Tokyo. "Looks like it's gonna be a long train ride."

Surfing the net once again, several incidences began popping up in the papers about extreme acts in one certain sector of Tokyo. "Well, looks like no better place to find scum than in the gutters." Gathering several automatic hand guns, armor piercing bullets, knives, 3 swords, a broken down high powered riffle, various pieces of body armor and camouflaged body suit, 6 cold medical packs, passport, mock clearance papers, wallet with fake ID and a golden locket, she turned to the door with 2 other bags in hand. Setting the alarm and traps, she disappeared into the night.

* * *

The sun's bright orange rays began to turn yellow, increasing the heat index outside gradually by a degree every hour. The streets were already bustling with people and cyborgs hurrying about their way in the rat race to be on time for work. Being on time...that was something Major Kusanagi sometimes had a problem with, especially days like today when she had been up late working her other 'job'. No matter how she justified it just being business, a god portion of her ghost still enjoyed the splash panels, even if she was heterosexual. Or was she? Some days, the question of her sexuality rolled through her mind between the male counter parts she like and the female experiences she relished in created so many blurred lines that one would have to wonder if being one or the other was just a figment of our imaginations brought upon by full cyberization. Did bisexuality really exist or, in the end, no matter how technologic man becomes, we are just a half step from our carnal sexual desires of the animalistic side of man's being. 'Not today' she thought, putting the questions aside for later.

Pulling up to the red light her thoughts were interupted by a code nine frequency. "Major. You know there's a meeting starting in 5 minutes with the chief right?" Smiling she looked down at her clock and ahead to the traffic. "Yes Batou I know. I'm about 10 minutes away."

"Another late night I see. You know the chief is gonna flip when you walk in 5 minutes late." She chuckled a bit knowing how the chief would react. Usually with a stern serious remark to her, then proceeding with his briefing. He wasn't big on paperwork in dealing with his own sector, as long as they did the job to their exceptional, he was happy with that. "Well, I guess I will just have to hear another stern remark about my tardiness." she chuckled easing into a curve. "Alright, Major. See you when you get here. Batou out."

Cruising along one of the straight aways leading to section 9, she looked to her wrist at a watch. She remembered this was the only memento left behind from that day. As of late, besides her other 'job' she had been haunted by hazy dreams, the name Kira repeating over and over again as she saw her fingers touch the semi precious metal watch. Maybe the light nights were starting to tax her cyber brain after all.

Scanning her clearance, parking her car and riding the elevator to the floor containing the meeting room, her hands still traced along the metal the watch. "Kira..." she said, staring at the watch.

Upon entrance to the meeting, she was greeted by the usual faces. Togusa of course quirking his usual brow at her entrance and Batou smiled with his arms crossed. The chief giving his stern looks at her late entrance and giving the "Next time you're late just call in" statement before continuing with his latest report from headquarters. Taking her seat and crossing her arms, she looked to the chief expectantly for him to continue his report.

"Ahem. There have been reports circulating the web that a rogue Yakuza by the name of Yakumara Mizuno contacting various extremist and terrorist groups for trafficking weapons again. With Yakumara's track record for dealing in illegal weapons, it doesn't come as much surprise that he would be contacting outside countries to his dealings. Reports have also speculated that Yakumara could be seeking asylum in one of the countries housing terrorist groups."

"So he's a punk kid trying to make a few extra bucks and fly the coup. Big deal, why are we after him? Shouldn't we go after his clients?" Batou was a bit skeptical about this kid. Young and stupid, wanted by the Public Security Division and by the Yakuzas seeking safety in another country. However, his clients would be a bigger concern than the kid who was most likely a middle man. "He does have a point. This kid's most likely a middle man." Togusa agreed, shifting in his chair, "If the kid goes down, then his dealer will find another punk to do his dirty work."

"Gentlemen, normally that would be the case. However, there has been a recent report of a shipment of radioactive materials from an old shut down nuclear plant suddenly disappearing in quantity. Amongst some of the materials were high grade uranium and a half kilo of weapons grade Plutonium. One of the operators of the reckon shipment ID's Yakumara as being the one orchestrating the hijacking. Radioactive materials in the hands of a terrorist group could mean devastation on an international level if planned correctly."

"So the kid may not be just another Yakuza reject punk after all." The major chimed in, reading information on Yakumara Mizuno's file. "It seems the police have arrested him on numerous occasions, but no charges were filed and he was released. Seems like they ID'ed him under another name and after no prints registered, released him. Someone failed in their job."

"Yes, Major. And now this has escalated due to negligence on their behalf to a terrorist class investigation, utilizing Division 9's expertise. There is also further information. Ishikawa."

"Thank you chief." Directing their attention to the center of the table, a holo screen appeared with various information scrolling on it. "It seems that there is a contract out for Yakumara as well for 2.5 million yen, which equates to about 20,000 American empire dollars." Batou whistled thinking how much that would get on the market place for new gym equipment. "Any takers on the contract?" Ishikawa inputted some information and pulling up different mercenaries and assassins for hire. "Only one name came across as accepted the terms of the contract."

"Terms?"

"Yes. The terms on the contract state to kill Yakumara with a traditional Japanese Bushido blade, return to them his right hand only. This would make it difficult for the usual crew of mercenaries and assassins with the turn of recent events. As you can imagine, Yakumara would be heavily guarded. Only one name mercenary returned a response." Pulling up the name with a record, the team looked curiously at the image. For one, there wasn't a picture of the person, only a name and wrap sheet. "He is called Angelis for numerous reasons. There isn't an image to cross reference, no have any clients seen him. The only way to contact this Angelic is via old email or he contacts you via email. No cyber links have been recorded, no bank records except for an escrow account opened numerous years ago feeding out into several other accounts then disappearing to a cold trail, there's not even so much as a finger print to ID the perk. Only a name and 18 counts for first degree murder of wanted criminals which 10 of the 18 were bounties set by various governments, 7 charges for destroying public, private and government property with the use of illegal explosives, Believed to have 138 counts for hacking into high level systems, including those of the America empire's CIA, various European state governments and even into the Public safety Divisions of sectors 3, 5 and 6."

"Doesn't sound like a big fish mercenary." The major sat up in her chair, reading through the various information on the screen. "What weapons were recorded being used during some of his operations?"

"Old world desert eagles, 9 mm with hollow explosive tips, blade marks, automatic riffles. You name it, it's been used. Even a tank grenade used in kamikaze mission which, ironically, Angelis survived with one other survivor who did not see a face, only blood. DNA analysis of the hair fibers and blood popped no returns. In short, this Angelis is something or someone who doesn't exist in any data banks and has not missed a target yet."

"So we now have to deal with a not to amateur mercenary along with retrieving the missing shipment of radioactive waste materials. Sounds like good times. Chief, what's the plan."

"There has been a meeting scheduled between Yakumara and an unknown buyer from abroad at 20:00 in tomorrow. Major, I'm counting on you and the team to secure that shipment. If possible bring Yakumara in alive. I don't want this matter getting messier than it already has become."

"Right, chief."

"Dismissed."

_22:00 hours_

She arrived into Japan hours after the sun had set. The crisp city air filling her lungs with an intoxicating sense of comfort in a strange way. Even the amount of crime, violence and underground dealings still had a sense of comfort for the recent arrival. Haling a taxi, she gave the driver the address upon dropping her bags in the trunk. "No taking me for a ride.?

"Uh, sure."

The lights faded between florescent and halogen as the car drove through one of its busiest districts. It was pretty run down filled with the have nots, the scrapers, bottom feeders. The gutter of all districts. 'Perfect' she thought to herself instructing the cab driver to stop. Pulling her bags from the trunk, she leaned to his window handing him his payment. "Ma'am, don't you think this area is well... a bit dangerous. I can take you to a nice spot on the other side of town if you just-"

"Shut the fuck up and leave. I'm fine here. Now leave" The driver huffed taking the money and speeding off. Several characters looked to the new arrival with great curiosity, not sure if she was lost, crazy or just that kind of 'character' you don't mess with. After a few stare downs, she manage to deter further attention, though she still held the attention of several characters. 'Some things never change' she thought to herself ducking into a dark alley way. There were only two lights in this area, one at the top of some old stair cases and the other flickering on and off near a dumpster blocking the pathway. Running to the dumpster and stopping, she dropped her bags from her shoulders and waited. And they took the bait.

Two men walked through the alley way knowing that it was blocked. Laughing, they started to close in on her location.

"Well, well, miss lady, looks like you took a wrong turn."

"Don't worry" the other one teased, twirling his blade about, "we'll make sure you get to the right place. After we have a little fun."

"Oh. Is that right?" Drawing a gun from one of the pockets of the backs and screwing on a silencer, she ducked further into the corner until her back touched the cold metal and the concrete wall. Placing on a pair of sun glasses, th infrared scanner locked onto their location, giving her a good view of their key 'hot spots' as she called them. "What do you say girlie. Come out of the dark and play."

"Sure thing big man." she smirked, steadying her hands.

The shots were never heard nor the sound of the bodies dropping to the ground. Soon, she emerged from the ally way, brushing her pants off. Looking to the street signs and the numbers on the buildings, she began heading off into the direction of her hotel, nonchalantly walking amongst the crowd.

Soon enough she arrived at the place. It wasn't the greatest in the world nor was it too shabby. "Will you be needing anything else ma'am?" the clerk asked, fearful to make eye contact. Brushing her fingers through her white strands of hair, she looked back to the clerk. "Nah, that's all I need. Just point me into the direction is all that I'm needing." Nervously the clerk pointed to the elevator. Nodding to thank her, she headed to her room on the elevator. Just your typical hotel room with a private bath. From this elevation she could look out upon this district, watching the lights flicker with life.

"Well, better get to work." Pulling out an archaic looking laptop, she plugged it into a hub and began process. "Hmmm, Yakumara Mizuno, where would you be." Infiltrating the police division's computer system by latching onto the 'sniffer' program that swept for hackers, she began scrolling through the layout of this district, all key terminals for financial institute, chat panels and other terminals for data. Cross referencing these terminals with Yakumara's background she began to narrow down the process, until she hit a wall in the police force's records. "Classified? Yeah right. There's no such thing as classified in this age. Just gotta have the right key."

Going through her command prompts and inputting data into her programs, slowly the different levels of security surrounding Yakumara's files were broken down one by one. What should have taken an hour only took less than 5 minutes since most up to date security systems seem to purge old hacking programs before the age of cyberization. For most hackers nowadays, this meant it was more of a challenge to infiltrate any systems or better yet, hack brains. But for her, the old programs and their usefulness provided the excellent opportunity to gain access into programs not suited for the outdated hacker formats. Though it was better, it still had it's drawbacks such as the easiness of their traceability. In the end, wasn't this just a part of the thrill anyways?

Breaking down the last level of classification, her eyes scanned through what information was left. "Interesting" she mused to herself reading what information was in the files was transferred to another area. Tracing the transfer logs, she found herself digging into the Public Security Division database. "Public security? what the?" After diving in further into the intricate networks and pathways the transfer took, she came to a sudden stop in the system, reading where the information was held. "Sector 9. Hmph. It keeps getting better."

Switching to another program on her mini tab and executing the terminal bound program, she lit a cigarette and inhaled its contents slowly, smiling as her fingers went away. 'Sector 9, sector 9, why does this seem so familiar?' After going further it finally hit her. 'Sector 9. Anti Terrorist division. Hmmm...' She inhaled another breath of her cigarette, thinking while trying to avoid detection in the system.

_23:00_

Major Kusanagi leaned back in her chair, reading through the records of this Angelis person. Cross referencing each of the files from the 10 cases, mostly incidents were most wanted hackers, murders or rapists wanted dead or alive. If the bounty hunters couldn't catch them, then they contacted this Angelis or he contacted them. The cases were fascinating even for a mercenary. The other 8 cases were quite different. All based in Japan of child rapists and molesters, all killed within the several districts of Japan after substantial evidence that could convict the criminals either came up missing or were deemed inconclusive.

The families of the victims were not rich either. Many of which were children ages 6 and above who had under gone cyberization due to abnormal accidents and diseases courtesy of various charities. Whenever they would seek help from authorities however, many were turned away. The perpetrators in these cases were often middle to upper class citizens with sick fetishes, one of whom was the son of a corrupt ambassador. After questioning his loyalties and investigating into his personal life, he was sentence to a political prison for falsification of evidence, conspiracy and illegal activities involving the yakuza's dealings in certain areas.

"So you're not just some riff raff. You actually have morals for a mercenary. It keeps getting better." After a few minutes of cross referencing, she looked back to their prime objective.

Yakumara Mizuno. Age 28, wanted by the Yakuza and Public Security division for 26 counts of international drug trafficking, illegal sales of illegal augmented cyber components, 5 counts of first degree murder which including 2 police officers and 3 Yakuza members, 9 counts of grand theft auto, 3 counts of assault, 13 counts of illegal distribution of heavy fire arms, 6 counts of rape.

"Rape. Let's see the victims." Before she could go any further, the Major encountered a rather curious pop up screen of the same information and cross reference with the district police. "Hmmm?" Letting the screen continue on, she placed her head on her fist, watching the screen go to work, then realized who it was. "So you're here after all Angelis." Smirking, she began inputting information to trace the source of this hacking. "Let's see where you're hiding, shall we?"

_The hotel_

She rummaged through the system before her alarm sounded. She was being traced. It would take the system 5 minutes before it traced her exact location. "Just one more minute" she muttered to herself, hastily going through all her pop ups. "20:00 hours tomorrow? This hotel?" she read, going through the recent report

_Sector 9_

Motoko's eyes widened as the page containing the report was accessed. Trying desperately to close out the classified information, she failed in her attempts. "Dammit!" she yelled, shutting the pop up 20 seconds too late.

_The hotel_

She smirked hitting the print screen button. In one quick motion, she jerked the connection cords, causing sparks to fly her connection cord. The hub was still live and still going. In one last minute though, she jerked the power connection from the hub itself, stomping on it to damage it completely to where even the internal battery wouldn't give off a signal. In her favor this worked, but not without the drawback of yet another hub destroyed. "Dammit! These things are a bitch to get on the market." she huffed, reading the screen shot captured just before she exited.

_Sector 9_

The major sucked on her teeth looking at the reports of the trace. Even with the advancement of technology, she was only able to get a broad area of Tokyo. 'So at least we know you're here' she thought looking at all the different districts to the north wing. Sighing heavily, she cut off her terminal. "Well, looks like you won this one, Angelis. I'll be watching." She muttered, heading to the sleeping cubicle for a much needed nap. Plans for the retrieval could wait a few hours longer.


	2. Victory and defeat

_Disclaimer: I do not own GITS nor any reference to other games, anime or movies which may come up in the future._

_note: The character's name is spelled correctly just in case you are wondering. There is method to the madness I assure you. Please enjoy reading_

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08:00 

The hotel

She woke in the room suddenly drenched in sweat from a bad dream or more so a night terror. Pain and screams of agony ringing through a cold dark cell with wires hanging about. The smell of blood polluted the air like cheap perfume mixed with cigars and pleas for mercy were drowned out by a mad laughter on top of the sounds of drills. The laugh still echoed in her head as she sat up looking out the window.

'It doesn't look half bad in daylight here' she thought, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Giving a long yawn and stretching, she arched her back until her head looked to the ceiling. The various cracks and water markings above reassured her feeling of just how much of a gutter hole this really was. Not the prime candidate locale for an international trade for components of mass destruction weapons one would think. Then again, this was some jerk off Yakuza rapist trying to save his neck by getting immunity in another country while fattening his pockets. In other words, protect his neck. 'He deserves this, that asshole bastard.' she thought getting up from her shitty excuse for a bed to shower.

The hot water rolled off her creamy skin causing her to moan slightly as it felt so tantalizing to her senses. Oddly enough, for a mercenary, she didn't have any scars from her previous jobs and still had most of her original organs intact. Other than the implant hubs along her spine and the small one on her chest along with the 'stream' markings on various areas of the body which were only visible when activated, she was flawless. That was the one thing she had to thank science and genetics for. Her smooth skin glistened slightly as the soap rolling from curve to curve, purifying her from the dirt of the mattress which had not been changed since who knows. 'Definitely 5 star quality' The tile floor was cold, even after a 30 minute shower, making her shiver slightly while streaking her hand along the mirror. Looking into umber eyes for a moment then examining herself, even admiring her beauty. Touching her implant hubs along her spinal column, she sighed thinking how much of a pain tore through her body as she was given this 'gift' which she cursed the idea of not being able to wear small strap shirts or even go shirtless if she so chose to. The thoughts made her chuckle in a twisted sense, reminding her just how much a woman she really was no matter how harsh her life was.

Shifting thoughts to her mission, she jogged her memory for the information obtained through a brief run in from Section 9's systems. The information only mentioned the transaction occurring in this hotel, which worked to her advantage somewhat, and a meeting with one of the buyers would occur at 20:00 in one of the rooms. In order to find out the exact room there were a few options. She would either have to know the name of the party renting the room which would require a bribe also or run an audio sweep from the outside to cycle through various conversations using keywords and phrases and mapping it down that way or ask the local Yakuza guard standing around looking suspicious. Knowing the options laid before her, audio sweeping was the only option and setting up the relay equipment was easier said than done. If she set up the audio filter and attach an optical relay positioning switch to give a rough layout of the locations, where would she hide it, could she equip it with thermo-optical cams to avoid detection by anybody who happened to be sneaking about the area and what angle would be best suited for location. There were too many factors involved and more to consider.

Outside or inside? The vantage point would be the determining factor for striking the opponent. If she went head on in the hallways how much time would elapse before her target escaped. 'So many factors to sort through' she noted putting on her underwear followed by her long sleeve black fitted shirt. She gave a heavy sigh again, reminding herself why she hated this part of the job and why she requests so much at a time for a nuisance like this. Perhaps the air vents would be an option as well. She would need the blueprints of the hotel in order to plot the route around once she found the room location. Buttoning her low rising jeans and boots, complete with the buckles which made a jingle noise with every step, she put on her sun glasses and ruffled her hair, trying best to look like a broke tourist trying to look fashionable. "Oh well. Can't think on an empty stomach" she whispered disappearing into the busy streets.

09:30

"Major, is everything alright?" No Response. Togusa pressed the accelerator a bit further, keeping up with the pace of traffic. They were working against a time schedule, less than 12 hours to the transaction yet the Major was spacing out. "Major?"

"I'm ok." Turning a gaze to Togusa then to the front window she began to drift in thought again slightly again. Something was on her mind, but she wasn't the type to indulge others in the complex trains of thoughts intersecting then parting again at certain junctions until a solid line of thought remained. It was only until she felt that she would give some insight as to what was trains were running the tracks. "I wonder. If Angelis will be competing with us over Yakumara Mizuno, do the Yakuzas realize he's holding plutonium and high grade uranium."

"Maybe they want revenge more than the plutonium. Maybe the Yakuzas that he murdered were family members to a boss or something."

"Or maybe they want to cut off the head and orchestrate the body under their will. How loyal are Yakumara's men to him and is he holding more than what we know?"

"If they wanted him dead, then they would have had one of his own men kill him, right?"

"Then that would mean putting yourself between a rock and a hard place. What happens if someone were to find out and kill you? What if they went back on their deal because of loyalty questions? There is far more involved in trying to have someone's man assassinate him so it's easier to hire an outside party who has no ties with them other than money and bloody hands. And to cut the man's right hand off and deliver it is requires far more cunning skills and boldness, not to mention a great deal of ruthlessness to commit. So it doesn't come as a surprise that none of his men would attempt to kill him."

Smirking for a second in thought, she remembered reading the cases of Angelis. For an amateur he created some demand amongst various governments. Or was it because he was the only one who had the balls to take on the cases. Either way, he was an interesting character with morals, not just money hungry like the average mercenary. "You know, I cross referenced some of Angelis' victims through various databases. I found something interesting."

"Oh really? Other than a body trail and money, what could possibly be interesting about another mercenary?"

"Out of the 18 people he killed, the 10 were international criminals wanted in many countries for violation of peace treaties along with misdemeanors of rape. The other 8 were cases where the victims were small children who were raped by most wanted serial rapists."

"So the families paid him, right?"

"That's not the case." Watching as Togusa turned on the exit, she placed her hand on her head and gave a sigh, though one would say it was more of a giggle than a sigh. Smirking at him, she continued her findings. "According to one family, Angelis offered to deal justice if the case did not go through for no money. The family agreed and Angelis victim was the son of a well known government official."

"You mean? That case where some official was sentenced to a political prison for numerous conspiracy, tampering of evidence and, you get the picture."

"The same one." Togusa nodded his head in realization. A mercenary killing criminals, terrorists and rapists. Wouldn't that make him like Public Security in a sense? Judging from the look on Togusa's face, he was starting to question in his own way the workings of the system while trying to grasp the idea of a mercenary in his short experience with Section 9. This made the Major mentally chuckle to herself. "What really defines us from a mercenary? The fact that we uphold the government security and they, whoever pays them for their services? The fact that our paychecks are written by the government and theirs by outside sources? Maybe because we're issued guns, clearance and augmentations legally and they have to seek other means of their augmentation, clearance and weaponry. The line is broad. Perhaps we are nothing more than mercenaries employed by our country. Who's to say?"

He sighed, taking parking the car near the hotel. "Now you're getting philosophical on me, Major."

10:00

She scanned through the area carefully, going along with the flow of people like a school of fish. There was more here than food. Everything from archaic dvd players, to beta (whatever those were) to ramen noodles, even the occasional chip cards which were most likely outdated or hot. Still no amount of electrical gadgets nor old relics of the past were going to help the cause for her stomach almost eating itself. And Ramen was just too heavy of a meal right now to eat. Listening carefully to the chants of the vendors, something caught her attention and peeked her interest.

"Apples. Get your apples."

Approaching the vendor carefully her cold gaze examined various apples in the bunch. Some where too ripe, some under ripped and a few were rotting. The little man shook slightly, feeling as though a cold dark aura encompassed the woman refelecting a past of hardships and war torn sentiments. Easily giving into something without closely observing was simply unnatural to her state of mind. Simply glancing at him for a moment then taking an apple from the basket he held in his hand, she carefully the coloration while feeling the weight. Placing some cash down on the table, she walked away taking a bite. 'Not bad' she thought, licking the juices from her lips.

Looking about, she took mental notes of her surroundings. Geography, Landscape, Buildings, street names, traffic layout, even the traffic lights themselves were mentally etched into a drawing inside her mind. 'Section 9 could rush through the front but that would draw too much attention and would alert the target. They could set up in the back of the hotel giving them the surprise element, but how would they find him? Hmmm...' Looking above there were only 2 rooftops a communications tower remotely close to the hotel that would allow ample enough signal for the scanners that could cut through all the concrete and background noise. Looking to the building and calculating the distance, view point and stealth ability, a sniper wouldn't be needed in a case scenerio such as this one due to time of day and the extraction process. It was too risky for this case. 'Roof operative would be their option to find him.'

Next on the agenda was finding a good escape route. 'That's in the works while I eat' she thought halfway finished with the apple.

Unbeknown to her, other observers were looking at the same areas as she, making similar notes with different purposes. "So are you going to do rooftop surveillance and scans?" Togusa inquired keeping up with the Major as she walked through the numbers at the market. Her attention was focused on the buildings as well as the landscape and angle of the building. Accessing the city plans, she carefully combed through the building's layout letting a few children bump passed her. "Do you think Angelis will take him head on?"

"Highly doubt it. Taking on that many guards is suicide no matter how strong the body may be." Looking to Togusa she asked, "Think about it. What would be the best possible way to infiltrate a hotel with a high stakes transcation occuring in a high traffic area to avoid detection?"

Well rooftops of course."

"Now think, wouldn't a mercenary want the same vantage point?"

"Ah, I see. What about an escape route?"

"Maybe he's trying to figure that out now." Her eyes traced 20 meters from her position, fixated on a figure in dark clothes who was walking about the market with the flow of people. She felt as if the past was coming to life when they began to come closer to one another within walking distance. Then it happened.

They passed each other line whispers in the wind, the crowd seemed to part from them like a school of fish from a disturbance until crimson brown eyes met one another. As white hair and dark hair ruffled with the wind's passing, a silent conversation began between them with a mere glance. Stepping further and further away from one another the crowd and buildings disappear, leaving behind a blank white void containing the two of them. The Major watched as the other woman's eyes seemed to narrow slightly and a small smirk slowly drew itself on her face like those of familiars meeting for the first time after years have passed . Major's eyes widened, flashing back to some distant past before Section 9 during time when war and death surrounded her. Surrounded them. Who was she? She could feel she was someone familiar yet her memories did not pull anything on her face recognition programming. Who was she? Opening her mouth to ask her name, she heard 'Kira' whisper faintly through her cyberbrain. The hiss cut like hot knives through her core, jerking the Major back to reality, hearing Togusa call her name over and over again.

"Major are you alright?" Looking back in the direction where the woman was she had disappeared, like a ghost. She scanned the area even more but could not find anyone that matched the image of that woman. She sighed heavily, turning back to Togusa. "Who's Kira?" She simply gave a quick gaze, continuing with work.

She went about her business as well, looking at manhole covers, sewer outlets, alleys, landings, even street routes, carefully planning her escape route.

18:30

The sun began to set on the land, blessing this place with her orange halo. She pressed her forearm against the window, resting her head on it. She went through the plan over and over in her mind. There wouldn't be much room for error nor a big window of opportunity for her to finish the contract and leave before section 9. Striking too early meant he could escape and alert hotel security causing a big mess. Striking too late, well the obvious end would be the run in with sector 9. She sighed looking out, wondering how smoothly this would go until her laptop beeped. Sliding open the touch tablet, her scanners managed to pin point the room location and floor the target was staying on. 10 floors above on the side closest to the tower.

Hacking through an architectural database for the hotel blueprints, she began to slowly decipher through lines and vector points. It would seem the guest of honor fancied the suite style rooms, reserving the whole floor for himself and his men. Scanning through the layout of ventilation system, elevator shafts and exits, she began to plot her route of entry and escape. Adjacent to his room was a suite connected by the emergency exit, which would be heavily guarded, and an air vent located in the shower portion of the room. using the scanner again to pan over to the room, it appeared that it was vacant without a trace of heat signature in the passed 30 min to an hour. With the showers back to back with one another, it wouldn't be hard to simply slip over to the other shower and attack from that point. 'That wouldn't be fun, now would it?' Shifting back to the layout of the floor, she discovered the locale of the door in reference to the living room area of the suite. It would provide the element of surprise if the lock could be opened or rather frozen off as opposed to kicking down the door, alerting the guards and watching her paycheck escape.

"Go through the ventilation shaft to the adjacent suite. Unlock the suite door. Take out any guards with a silenced hand gun, dash for the game, take the kill. The window would be the best route of escape. Deliver the goods. Sounds like a plan..."

Looking to the clock then back to her back, piece by piece she began putting on her armor. She sighed, grabbing a hypodermic needle gun full of some kind of opaque fluid and injecting the fluid into a small oval shaped 'hub' on her chest. Feeling the fluid rush through her veins rapidly, the trails on implants slowly started to throb a bit receiving the serum then glowing a faint hue of purple. "And it starts" she muttered to herself, placing more of the fitted armor plates and thermo-optical camouflage on.

19:45

She sat along the rooftop waiting. 'Where are you hiding, Angelis and where will you strike?' Scanning through carious rooms and conversations, the feeling that they were too late crept upon her while she scanned. Then it happened. From the 25th story, shards of glass shattered as two bodies ejected themselves into the air, gun shots ringing behind them moments after their departure. Pulling the ports from her neck, she watched as a long blade disappear into the bottom body, silencing the pleas for help. Quickly she switched to cyber link mode, leaping from her standby point.

_'Batou!'_

_'I heard, Major. We're moving in!'_

Firing shorts at the gunmen as she descended and landing on a 20th story balcony, she focused switching from normal vision to modified to thermal vision. No reading were found both optically and thermally. 'Dammit he's using thermo-optical camouflage '

Free falling from the balcony, she landed with an earth shattering crash, rushing ,camouflaged mode, to the crowd that had just gathered to the scene. She found Yakumara Mizuno with his right hand missing and part of a bushido blade completely lodged through his cranium, the other piece of the blade within 5 meters of the body. Judging from the impact, Yakumara managed to rip a strap from his assassin prior to his demise, he left hand still clenching the freshly emptied 9mm stained with blood.

"Dammit..."

_'Batou, report!'_

_'Major we've secured two cases along with several guards and one suspect believed to be the buyer. Nobody saw nor heard anything until they heard a scream then the breaking glass. It looks like he entered through the suite door using something to freeze the mechanism to break in. The guards inside the room were shot in the head. We've located the gun used to kill the guards, a 9 mm with a silencer on the barrel using hollow tipped bullets. it looks as though there were 3 rounds fired assuming the gun was fully loaded.'_

She distanced herself from the steadily growing crowd gathered around Yakumara's remains, she rushed to the nearest alley thinking that would be the assasin's route of escape. _'Secure the cases and call the clean up crew. Yakumara is dead and as I would imagine there's going to be quite a bit of media coverage on this._'

_'Understood, Major'_

Looking to the the alley, she was greeted by the all too familiar sigh of homeless derelicts hunched over in their drunken hopelessness. She sighed heavily, turning her eyes to be buildings above upon exiting the alley. There was an eerie calm about them, even with the noises of the district. It was an interesting victory and defeat. This Angelis had completed his objective without any trace of his presence in the past 30 minutes. Perhaps there was something, some kind of clue in area, but knowing this kind of assassin, the only clues they would find would be the strap in Yakumara's hands and blood which wouldn't give them a picture ID in any database most likely.

"We've underestimated you. Seem like you're more than a mere amateur after all."

Oddly enough a small smirk appeared on the Major's face as her intrigue with this Angelis flared a bit more. He was indeed damn good at his job, a challenge indeed and she enjoyed a good challenge. Making her way to the checkpoint, her mind replayed the scene over and over again, much like the predator spies on their pray.

_'Major! There's a problem.'_

_'What is it?'_

_'We've recovered the case with high grade scrap uranium, but the case __supposedly__ containing the Plutonium is empty.'_

_'I'm on my way! Ichikawa, keep an eye on all hospital admission files of any unusual gunshot wound victims popping up.'_

_'Roger that, Major.'_

22:00

"Boss. A courier is here."

Tanaka turned his chubby head towards his subordinate, taking a puff from his cigar. "Send him in."

The courier shook nervously with each step taken, knowing that he had entered into the belly of the most feared beast in Japan. Moving slower to Tanaka, almost to tears, he stopped 5 feet of this great man, falling to his knees ready to piss at any given moment. Boss Tanaka looked down at the boy, wallowing in his fear as he blew smoke with each word spoken. "Well. Do you have something for me?"

Gingerly taking the box from his satchel, he held up the black box to the yakuza boss. "T-T-T-This w-w-w-w-was reques-s-s-s-sted to be s-s-s-sent t-t-t-to you, s-s-s-s-s-sir." Motioning to his subordinate, the slim man grabbed the box and opened the lid. Inside with a note reading 'As you requested' was a present: A right hand.

"That's his ring alright. Secure the other half to him."

Bending down in his chair, he tossed a currency chip to the courier. "Hurry up and leave. You were never here." Hastily the boy got up from his spot, running like hell out of the den. Boss Tanaka laughed, watching the kid almost knock himself out running up the stairs.

"Daddy was that really necessary?" Boss Tanaka turned to his daughter who stood behind him, simply giving her a smile as the box was secured inside an end table amour. "Sometimes, my dear, you have to do these things. You will understand someday."

* * *


	3. Memories of Mexico

_Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost in the Shell nor any of the character property of the makers of GITS. I hope you enjoy_

* * *

She scanned through various chat rooms sitting in on sessions hoping to get some leads on her new prey, but with the numerous talks of 'Angelis' and discussions of past cases, her investigation was only at a snail's crawl. Most of the chat rooms and blogs that mentioned Angelis by referring the cases to their lives or trying to structure some kind of character analysis of him. There were even a few cases of copy cat vigilante's, but none of whom had the skills of Angelis. He had made quite a name for himself in the past few years.

Was he even a male?

_Earlier_

"You mean to tell me that not only were you not able to recover the case with plutonium in it, but Yakumara Mizuno was assassinated as well?" the chief sat back in his chair, folding his hands before his face as the look of worry painted a clear picture across the wrinkles in his brow. Closing his eyes, he gathered his composure a bit more as the situation has now changed for the worse and a solution would have to be found quick if they wanted to avoid any backlash from the general public for their actions.

"How in the hell could this have happened?"

"He infiltrated the hotel right under our noses, chief." Good ole Batou. The muscles in his head were not the greatest and sometimes he could fan the flame just enough to bring them to a roar. "Inexcusable! You know very well that you're not some rookies fresh out of training camp handling potential threats to the security of our Nation. And the world for that matter!"

He slammed his fist on the oak wood desk, knocking over his pen stand while a few papers flew into a mess of a pile. "I want this situation handled as soon as possible. Major. You know what to do. I'll try dealing with the Ministry of Foreign affairs and reassure the Prime Minister we will have the situation resolved soon."

"Yes, Chief."

"Dismissed!"

* * *

Playing back the scene in her head while sitting in on the latest chat session, she paused frame by frame the descent of the two figures, adding higher resolution and different lighting to the scene. Something was a bit off. Very much off and her ghost could feel it. Sighing to herself she sat watching the chat go on. This had been the 10th chat tonight and little had come out of these talks, other than heated words, political debates and an exchange of PMs which had been hitting her every now and then. 

"Well I don't understand what the fuss is about. Angelis is trying to make a difference in our corrupt government by dealing true justice to those who aren't economically privileged." Maddox010100 was pretty riled up today. It seemed he was pretty devoted to the idea of Angelis existing in this day in age.

"I agree to a certain extent, however..." JutaposeIgnite stopped mid sentence contemplating her next words. Between the heated discussion in the room, she seemed to be the voice of reasoning. "I can understand the position this would put our government in. Think of how the refugee's Kou case went and how it almost stirred another war on a homeland scale. What would we be if we had nothing more than vigilante justice?"

"Are you saying we should just hang him out to dry after what he's done for families who's children were rape and their cyber brains violated?! That's RIDICULOUS!! You might as well give the criminals licenses to do whatever they want. Then what kind of government would we have? The government doesn't give a rats ass about us, they just want our money and to jump ship at the first chance they get at a better life. That's all this is about. Angelis understands what going on because he's one of us, the People!"

"If the government didn't care about us, then why do we have public security?" Shadow2001baby posed a good question, stopping Maddox010100 in his mad rant. "If the government was really out to make money and jump ship, then why the repeat representatives and by put money into policing the people when they get out of hand. Sometimes justice doesn't care towards the economically privileged, it does deal justice sometimes."

"Tell that to the corporations who pay off a lot of governments"

This chat was becoming more and more meaningless with each passing second she sat there. How unfortunate that she turned up yet another dead end. Just as she was about to log off, another chatter entered the room.

"Ah I see we have an older timer logging on." teased Maddox010100 at the blank logon picture and anon04152019 name. In a generic voice over it began to speak. "Old timer. Perhaps I am, perhaps not. Once upon a time, the Internet wasn't an much of a living entity as it is now. Of course that was prior to the 3rd and 4th World War. If it were not for the ground breaking archaic technology, we would not be were we are today. So pay a little respect to the old ways."

"Whatever old timer."

"Well aren't you a bit rude." Chroma gave him a slight smirk, cocking her head to the side slightly, "No respect for the elders. Have a troubled childhood?"

"What would you know you're-"

"Let him be" anon04192019 interrupted hovering the blank screen to an empty chair across from Chroma, "he's just another fanatic trying to understand what he has little concept of. The idea of Angelis existing to him is much like the comic book heroes of the 1980's were to children of that age. And that's probably the highlight of his day next to cyber porn."

"Hey!" Anon04192019 turned the screen in Maddox010100's direction, as if to look at him, even with a blank screen. "I do have a life! And what could you possibly understand about Angelis?"

"You would be surprised. Take for instance this chat room. Not all who are here are what they appear to be, only what they portray. Take for instance yourself." Cocking the screen sideways slightly, it continued. "You have the image of a man who appears to be about 26 years of age. But judging from your speech and your lack of manners, I would take you to be under the age of 20, which would explain your lack of tact and under developed understanding of investigations."

Maddox010100 sat silently for a moment, then suddenly logged off. Anon04192019 laughed, turning the screen upright again. The other chatters snickered a bit watching his image dissipate. "My. You shut him down relatively quick." Anon turned to Chroma, letting out a small 'hmph', "You're quite interesting for an old timer."

"One would say the same for you. That statement wasn't just to him directly."

"Oh? So are you saying I'm not whom I appear to be as well?" This little game had turned interesting with the appearance of his anonymous character. The other chatters looked on with slight curiosity before returning to their discussion upon the two disappearing from the main chat and entering into a PM. The blank image screen still remained while Chroma, however, had changed a bit from having dark hair to blonde.

"I see you've been surfing through a lot of chat rooms and reading a lot of blogs with Angelis as the keyword."

"And how would you know that?"

"That's usually the protocol whenever Angelis is sought. Go to any keywords in blogs and chats, engage in discussions, sit and listen to the chats and as always laugh at the mad rantings of fanatics who have a lack understanding in the gravity of the situation. Am I right?"

"Lucky guess."

"Then allow me to further indulge in this discussion with direct questions. Why are you looking for Angelis?"

"I have my reasons. Besides, why should I allow such privileged information in your hands? You're like any other pm'er who asks me these questions. Am I right?"

The image screen began to jerk left to right as a low laugh hackled through the space. This ritual repeated itself for 30 seconds until the voice began to speak again. "So you left a traceable IP and some firewall protection with a backwards hacking program to trace me, or rather attempt to trace myself if I were connected directly to the Internet with some type of brain augmentation or complete cyber brain. How interesting."

"So you're another pm'er who hacks. Hacking is a crime."

"So wouldn't that makes you a criminal, inadvertently?" Chroma's gaze remained cold, fixated on this blank image screen before her. This definitely wasn't some fanatic or copy cat. Could this be the real thing or a lead? Either way, this anon04192019 had caught her attention and it knew this by the small chuckle given off in the robotic voice. She initiated the signal trace, just in case this was the real thing. Somehow she needed to keep this character online for it to finish.

"So, you must be the real Angelis. Either that or a very good imitation." The image went silent for a moment, rotating counterclockwise then stopping. "Must have struck a nerve. So which one is it?"

"It seems you have indeed struck something, though I wouldn't call a nerve. More of an interest. You're quite the cocky one. Who you're with? Hmmm...section 9, perhaps. I thought section 9 completed their objective and retrieved whatever those cases were."

"Do you know what was in those cases?"

"Something of interest to Section 9 and not of my concern. I was to cut the right hand of Mizuno Yakumara from the body and kill him with the blade. That was my objective and he deserved it."

"So you're a judge now."

"You must be the one they call Major from section 9. Funny." It paused for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the screen. "There is a quote that says 'I am a soldier. Both Judge and Defendant, standing on both ends of the flame.' Major does that sound familiar?" She sat silently, gazing at the blank screen repeating the quote in her head. Then something faintly familiar flashed in her eyes. That quote...it sounded all too familiar. "Ah yes. The nerve has been struck again. Tell me, why are you looking for me?"

"You assassinated Yakumara and there's an empty plutonium case. Since you were there, it would lead us to conclude that you have the plutonium."

"As I stated, the plutonium and high grade uranium were not my concerns...however..." She looked to the console to find that the trace program was complete. Zooming in on the location the screen the holo screen bleeped red signifying the location. 'The building next to the hotel?' An image appeared on the screen. Looking carefully, she could only tell that it was wearing a black helmet covering the face and shoulders which were not broad like Batou's. Looking in the background it appeared that he was on the roof somewhere. He continued to speak in the same robotic filtered voice, "...I am willing to help on one condition..."

"And why would you help?"

"If there is still that kind of power in the wrong hands...then it could potentially mean war. I don't want that anymore than you do, Major. You know all too well what war can do and the aftermath it creates." Chroma nodded, her eyes shifting slightly to the left and right to divide her processes. "...it is from war that spawned things man should not create. I don't want others, especially children, to suffer the fate I am forced to suffer so I will help, but you must meet the conditions..."

"Which is?"

"Hmph...you will know soon enough, Major. I just hope you've gotten better since Mexico..."

"Mexico?" Before she could ask anything further, the screen went black again as the user had logged off. "Dammit!" she screamed, slamming her fist into the console she sat at. Something wasn't right. The name, the mentioning of Mexico, the offer of help, the words he spoke...something was off. She knew he would be long gone before anyone could be mobilized, but that mattered none as he would be back with his conditions. The most important thing was trying to uncover another piece of evidence. Immediate she took the voice recordings from the conversation and ran it through an analysis. maybe there was something there she could use to piece together the identity of Angelis, something.

_flash back to Mexico_

The air stunk with humidity and cow manure as the sun approached its midday mark. How long had she been sitting there? Days? Weeks? Again she struggled against the cuffs on her forearms but it was no good, her cybernetic strength had been reduced to a mere fourth of its normal capacity, rendering her as weak as a child. She even tried to bang her head again the walls in hopes to loosen concrete enough to make an opening, but even her efforts were futile as she only managed to scrape her cybernetic skin, revealing a piece of titanium along the edges of her hairline. It was hopeless to break free.

Her left leg spewed more hydraulic fluid, broken from her fight with that punk ass kid with Inhuman strength. Normally she wouldn't have underestimated her opponent, but that kid...she was organic, yet she wasn't. She didn't have cybernetic implants like those around her, yet she had insane strength and speed. What was she? And that glow in her eyes and skin. Something wasn't right about that kid. It should have been impossible for a snot nosed punk ass kid almost 3 years younger than herself to beat the living shit out of her. And her fighting skills. She must have known at least 5 different fighting styles, but still. One solid punch from her should have ended that fight, but it only prolonged it.

Slumping in the shadows of the far right corner, her head resting against the sticky warm concrete, she thought of her last resort. Self termination. Erase all memories and shut down all system functions would provide no information for them to use against the Corp army in Mexico. "It's been a good life, Major" she muttered to herself, her head touching her knees, "you've been a cyborg all your damn life and can't even remember what happened before that day. Lived from place to place as a ward of the state, joined the Japanese peace corps, even managed to gain the name Major. And now it ends in this shit hole Mexico. And to think, some masked punk ass freak of nature kid almost 3 years younger than you kicked your ass around pretty good in the middle of BFE Mexico of all places. I swear, if I believed in god, I would strike a bargain to get out of here and kick her ass someday."

In the mist of her rambling, the door to the opened, pouring in the blinding light from the midday sun. She squinted her eyes, hoping that the aperture would auto reduce soon so at least she could get one look at the asshole. "Well now, you can't just die yet. What will the rescue platoon think if you were nothing more than a doll?" Stepping closer into the holding hut, she could see the outline of the figure better while letting her eyes adjust a bit more. What took her for surprise were those eyes. She could see them glowing just a slight bit from the holes in the mask, her own narrowing at her captor. "What do you want now you freak punk kid? Come to finish the job?" She laughed at her captive's words. "You know you're a real Major Pain in the ass. I like you. So much to where I'm letting you go."

"What is this? Some kind of sick joke?"

She knelt down closer to where her eyes peered through the mask into the Major's eyes. Brushing a few strands of dripping hair from the Major's brow then gave it a pseudo kiss then extended her hand and slapped it across the cyborg's face. "No. That, just now, was a sick joke. What I'm doing is something you'll understand hopefully later in your life. You may be older than me, but you sure in the hell have a long ways to go."

"Why the hell are you doing this?"

"Because..." she paused in thought for a moment, searching the Major's face over once more, "you remind me of something that I can't remember. Something from so long ago that it would pain me if I didn't let it grow. I hope that someday we can meet again. Maybe then you would get the chance to kick my ass" She laughed again, pulling a bag from her pocket. "Now then, you got the answer. It's time to go." Before the Major could protest, all her senses went dead temporarily.

The next thing she remembered was waking up in a make shift maintenance tent just outside of Mexico City. Disorientated, she rubbed her eyes while attempting to move her leg. "Whoa there, Major. You just got that replaced literally minutes ago." A small smile found it way upon her face, recognizing the voice speaking to her. Giving a sigh of relief, she gave a small chuckle thinking how the kid actually kept her word and given her another chance. Maybe there was a god after all or maybe that kid really meant what she said. "What day is it?"

"April 19th 2019 why?"

"It's only been a few days then." She relaxed against the table, letting her hand slide to her chest. "Ishikawa, how much more maintenance do I need?"

"Ah, just a few more calibrations and another test run on your system schematics. After that and a bit more fluids, you'll be up and running in no time." Ishikawa handed her a notebook. "This was found next to you when we found you. It's kinda strange, an external memory device even though you're a full cyborg."

Taking the notebook in hand and raising it to her face, she turned the first page, reading the words inscribed on the first page. 'I am a soldier. Both Judge and Defendant. I stand on both ends of the flame.' Just below those words were written "See you in the future. Just remember I own you until you defeat me. Until then, much love, Major. Regards, Kira, the 1st rank of the Elite 4." She smirked, letting out a small laugh to herself. "I'll definitely see you again...Kira."

* * *

She sat back in her chair, taking a sip of coffee while the screen went idle. It's been over 10 years since that incident which one could argue was the catalyst of her being the Major she is today. The memories began to fade back into the forefront of her mind in realization that who they were looking for was not only a female, but something which none in Section 9 had gone against except her. Her movements, the attack, the disappearance even the conversation started to piece together slowly but she wasn't any closer to finishing the picture than from whence she started, just a bit more insightful with what they were dealing with...what she was dealing with. 

"Why now, kid? It's been over 10 years and you're popping up now after so long. There's something more to this picture, I know, but I'm no closer to figuring it out then when I started." Scrolling through the cases which allegedly Angelis had a hand in, she began reading more and more in depth into the cases involving Angelis' assassinating various rapists within Japan and Yakumara. There had to be a connection between all those departed by her hands. "Let's start with the families of the rapists."

As she attempted to open the records from the public security divisions for section 6, she was met with 'Access Denied: Classified' painted in bold neon red across the screen. "Classified? Now that's interesting for rapist cases. Maybe we can take another approach."

_'"chikawa. I have an assignment for you."_

_"I'm listening Major."_

_"See what you can pull up in the American and Mexican databases about the Elite 4."_

_"The Elite 4? that was over 10 years ago."_

_"I know. See what you can pull up on the 1st rank within the Elite 4. I have a hunch about something. In the meantime, I'm going to investigate some closed cases."_

_"Understood, Major."_


End file.
